The 1965 Illinois Fighting Illini football team represented the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

in the

1965 Big Ten Conference football season The 1965 Big Ten Conference football season was the 70th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1965 NCAA University Division football season. This was the first year Big Ten teams ...

. In their sixth season under head coach

Pete Elliott Peter R. Elliott (September 29, 1926 – January 4, 2013) was an American football player and coach. Elliott served as the head football coach at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (1956), the University of California, Berkeley (1957–1959), ...

, the Illini compiled a 6–4 (4–3 against

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

opponents), outscored opponents 235 to 118, and finished fifth in the Big Ten. Fullback

Jim Grabowski James Grabowski (born September 9, 1944) is a former American football player and broadcaster. He played college football at the University of Illinois and professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Green Bay Packers and the Ch ...

was selected as the team's most valuable player, received the team's most valuable player award, and was a consensus pick for the

1965 College Football All-America Team The 1965 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1965. The NCAA recognizes six selectors as "official" f ...

Schedule

Awards and honors

( fullback) **

Chicago Tribune Silver Football The Chicago Tribune Silver Football is awarded by the ''Chicago Tribune'' to the college football player determined to be the best player from the Big Ten Conference. The award has been presented annually since 1924, when Red Grange of Illinois w ...

** Consensus All-American

Team players in the NFL

was also the first pick overall in the

1966 American Football League Draft The 1966 American Football League draft was held on Saturday, November 27, 1965. The AFL added the Miami Dolphins as an expansion team in 1966 to bring its total to nine franchises for its seventh season. The Dolphins were awarded the first overal ...

. He was the first ever draft pick of the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

References

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

Illinois Fighting Illini football seasons

Illinois Fighting Illini football The Illinois Fighting Illini football program represents the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) level. The Fighting Illini are a founding member of ...

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